First Impressions
by VictorianSiren
Summary: He was a mercenary sent to kill her, so what changed his mind? He looked into her eyes.


_"_ _Something amiss, Sister? You look flustered."_

 _"_ _Ahhh! P-pardon me."_

 _"_ _No, pardon me! I never meant to startle you. May I offer my apologies…."_

* * *

She was a cleric.

She had bumped into him and stumbled. Joshua caught her before she could fall. A young woman, robed and cowled in purest white. Her hair was golden, her eyes blue. The very picture of an angel, or at least what Joshua had always been told angels looked like. If angels existed, that is. He wasn't a particularly religious man. If there were gods, there was only one he prayed to, the flighty and tempestuous Lady Luck. That was all the divinity he needed.

She was pretty, too. Beautiful, really, with those soft features, eyes so blue you'd drown in them. _Why do the prettiest ones always have to be forsworn, eh?_ She was dressed in maidenly white, but the blue of her eyes was not innocence. It might have been wisdom, if she had not been looking at him so helplessly. Joshua had seen enough of the world to recognize desperate eyes when he saw them. Eyes seeking protection, a safe place, a moment to stop and breathe.

She was looking to the wrong person, then.

 _Don't look at me like that. I'm supposed to kill you._

She seemed to sense the change in his thoughts, and pulled away from him hastily. "No, it's not necessary… It was my fault. Excuse me, I must be going… Good day to you." She hurried away, but it was clear she didn't know where to turn. There were soldiers on every street, and more arriving. Hand at her breast, she retreated a few steps behind a tree.

 _Well, this is a fine situation._ He hadn't been paying much attention when the captain was shouting orders earlier. Joshua had never taken orders well, and he figured as long as he did his share of the killing there would be no complaints. They were to hold the town and capture some rebels. When he thought that was the assignment, it was easy enough. This, though…

Joshua hadn't been with this sorry excuse for an army long. He'd been in the area when he heard they were hiring extra swords to fortify the town's defenses. A quick gig to earn a few coins, nothing wrong with that. And the town had an arena, even better. He'd almost had time to think about staking some of his hard earned gold on some fights when this cleric had to run into him, looking at him so desperately, like she wanted…what?

He'd killed women before. But it was different when they were coming at you with a sword. Joshua doubted this one could even lift a sword, let alone try to run him through. And what was this all for anyways? Some secrets of Grado? He dimly recalled them calling her a traitor to the empire. Their empire. Grado and its secrets meant nothing to him. Their emperor meant nothing to him. He was just here to get paid.

He fingered a coin in his pocket, feeling the embossed head under his thumb. If he hadn't been in the street that moment, she'd have never run into him. Maybe he'd never have known that she was the one they were hunting. Maybe some other soldier would have cut her down, and Joshua would never be the wiser. He'd collect his pay, flip a coin, and move on to the next town, wherever the wind would take him. And she would be dead, her eyes closed forever. Those eyes…

They had looked at him so beseechingly. That memory, only minutes old, still burned in front of him. Maybe in another lifetime he'd have passed her by, but it was not this one. He looked at that angelic face again. Too honest for deceit, too pure for disloyalty. _If this one's a traitor, I'm a polka dotted pegasus._

Joshua looked discreetly back at the Grado captain. Saar, his name was. A captain, yes, and a knight, yes, but old. A thickset body, covered from head to toe in plate armor, Joshua could run circles around him before he ever raised that lance of his. As for the rest of the company, well, there was a reason they'd needed to hire extra muscle just to hold this little border town. The mounted knights might give him some trouble, but it was nothing he hadn't done before. And maybe if he was lucky, he could still visit the arena after.

The rest of the Grado company was beginning to form ranks, giving him an earful of their rattling shields and clanging armor. The cleric, hearing their approach, slipped away behind a row of houses further down the street. Behind him, Saar was shouting again, something about a small mercenary force a the gates of the town. _Another mercenary bunch? This isn't going to be good._ Joshua sighed. _I'd better get to her before these imperial bastards do._ He drew his sword for their benefit, just so they'd think he was still on their side.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Author's Note: This is the first fanfiction I've written in a really long time, so of course I had to make it for one of my favorite couples in one of my favorite games. Joshua and Natasha are so perfect together, and the stupid romantic in me can't help but love the idea that even though he was meant to kill her Joshua just fell super hard for her and turned on his employers to protect her.

Feedback is always loved and appreciated! Thank you for reading.

~C


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